We’ve been taking some time off, staying at Ryan’s parents. Today some folks were watching a documentary about popular music in the US and a particular segment about punk music. I overheard John Doe from X lamenting the arrival of people whose only interest was violence into their punk scene and how they stopped playing the anti-rape song “Johnny Hit and Run Pauline” after they saw dudes pumping their fists, not getting the meaning of the song. Later, Elvis Costello was saying that he always thought of punk as being elitist because working and having children didn’t afford him the time or money to go out to the clubs that were the epicenter of the punk scene at the time.
I think it’s crazy that the same questions. the same contradictions that seem to be plaguing punk subculture now are the same ones that existed at it’s conception and I don’t know if that makes me feel more hopeful or more frustrated.
-Geoff